hand vac came.... it's a dirt devil party!

[vacuumfreeeke]

I've always said I can't stand Dirt Devils as a vacuum snob... but I've been a little more humble lately. I know that many Dirt Devils aren't great, but I really like the ones I have. The broom vac and the hand vac (that just arrived today from Ebay) are from my childhood and are the classic red and black soft bagged machines... and they work well too. The more modern stick vac that I found in the trash also works well, and I find myself using it every day!

My hand vac came with the original box and paperwork (still sealed in the plastic bag, but I HAD to open it... was a tough decision). No attachments, paper bag adapter, or belt lifter. I thought I would need all of them, but now that I have the machine, I think I'll be OK without them. The first thing I had to do was clean it up. It was covered in dust and the bag was full of mess! I sanitized it with Lysol and employed my Dyson to help clean the bag. This is the first vacuum I bought from Ebay (though I have a power nozzle and a hoover upright on the way... it's addictive!).... I guess the seller thought I'd like to see what dirt from Illinois looks like.

Dyson bin.... full from the DD bag.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Next I had to change the belt. I bought the belts from a place here in FL and they arrived before the machine did... that was frustrating! I thought it would be hard to change the belt seeing how small it is, but it wasn't very hard at all... the belt is so little that it yielded with a minimum of encouragement.

Look at the difference in size between the new and old belt!

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

The box... I guess it's nice to have the box, but the machine isn't exactly vintage and it's just one more thing to store. Would you throw the box out or keep it?

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Dirt Devil Literature... we had a DD upright growing up and it came with this same literature. I love the Royal vac ad!

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Other side that shows the Dirt Devil family. I wanted ALL of them as a kid!

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Pic of all my red Dirt Devils. Broom vac is still my favorite. I was hoping the bag patttern on the Hand Vac would match the Broom Vac, but it doesn't. What's nead on the hand and broom vac (besides the soft ballooning bag and wing shaped nozzles) is that it has an arrow on the brushroll and metal bottom plate just like the Royals do!

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

look at this mess!

Performance.... It's very light and not as loud as I thought it would be. Seems pretty powerful too! All this dirt came from my loveseat and armchair... which are vacuumed regularly by my Dyson (suction only though, shows how important agitation is). I had "Dysoned" the bag right before doing this, so that's all fresh dirt. The only thing I don't like is how incredibly difficult it is to remove the bag... it's a very tight seal. I can't wait to try it out in the car and on my matteress! Thanks for looking )

 

[kirbyluxhoover]

Paper Bags

I have a Dirt Devil hand vac that I got from Grandma that was in her garage and she didn't know they even had it. Grandpa must have bought it for cleaning the cars and he passed just over three years ago. My parents also have one but Grandpa had gotten the bag adapter for it which Mom and Dad don't have it it makes for less mess. The paper bag doesn't have the most perfect seal and a little dirty does leak out but it keeps you from getting a dust cloud when emptying the vac. It also lets you use it for blowing should you desire. The bags are pretty cheap and I found them cheaper at the Local OSH than the vac shops.

 

[kenmore81]

Ohh Bob

Wait till you see what you get from your matteress I hate looking in the bag/dust cup when I do mine wich is atleas once a month. Im glad you like it,I also had the Broom vac Like yours and the hand vac my aunt had I loved the both, she had the adapter for the paper bags but only used them for a year or so and then said the heck with it and just emptied the cloth. My Broom vac's bag matched her hand vac as did the had vac I had a few years later.
Ken

 

[vacman117]

Dirt Devils

I have all three of those vacuums! LOL Except I have about 5 of the handvacs. One of them has the paperwork and boxes. And I feel your pain. When I got my Royal Prince it had the sealed paperwork, and I had to open just to see what was inside, and now I regret my decision.

 

[lux1521]

Congrats / Bag Pattern

Glad to see one more classic Dirt Devil lover.

To get a hand vac that matches your broom vac, you need a model 172. It has the same bag pattern. It might be a 2 speed model, but I'm not sure. They turn up from time to time, and are harder to find than the 500 series, but they don't seem to be as rare as a pro series, signature series, or green "plus". If you get addicted and decide to collect them the way I do there are easily dozens of model numbers, about a half dozen plastic colors, and many bag patterns.

 

[arh1953]

I like your Dirt Devils, I have the little canister with the regular floor tool. I need to find bags for it. The vac shops here are not customer friendly, but I think I'll try one anyway.

 

[vacuumfreeeke]

Ken I've done the bed with my Dyson and Kenmore Iridium and we did lots of them with the Kirby when I sold them (but I don't have a dirt meter at home and it's no fun not seeing what you got!). It's pretty frightening, but this machien will make it a lot easier!

Erick, do you have pictures of yours collection? I'd love to see them if you do. I know they made it in red and blue and a black that had a cigarette lighter adapter on it for cars, but I didn't know about any other colors. Thanks for letting me know which one matches my broom vac bag.

Alan, the vac shop people here are rude too. They are pretty religious for the most part and I am obviously gay... they are cold! Why not try to get them on Ebay... that's where I get all mine... they have a good supply of bags and belts for the Broom Vac which seems kind of rare now. I think I have 8 and since I have so many machines, none of them fill very fast so they will probably last the rest of my life!

 

[xraytech]

very nice Bobby,

I have always liked these hand vacs but never got one.
My aunt bought one in 1992 around Christmas, and it is still going even though very rough looking. She also had one of the hard bodied Dirt Devil uprights bought around late 1992 or early 1993, it held up to about 5 years of regular household use and then to her flower shop for another 6-7 years of hard use and alot of abuse until it was ruined in a flood in September 2004.
The early models seemed fairly durable, just wonder what happened.

 

[lux1521]

Here are some pictures.

1: Green Dirt Devil Plus 08510
2: Car Vac
3: Signature Series 513
4: 103
5: Pro Series 533

I also have a newer (and louder) model 08100RT (red color) which I inherited from my grandmother. I will post a picture Friday.

My collection is just a small portion of the variations made. For instance the 500 series had both black/yellow and black/red variations, along with variants with new style nozzle plugs. Red variants include the 103, 172, 503, and the later 08100RED and 08100RT. There are also strange models that I have only read about in Hesco part diagrams, including a grey model. There were also euro style models with a few differences.

It should be noted that there were full size models corresponding to many of these variants. We younger collectors really need to get a move on if we want to preserve this part of vacuum history.

 

[arh1953]

Bobby, in our case here, the shops seem to have people from some other country, hence not interested in dealing with us "weirdo" collectors. There is a place in Stuart that seems like a regular store, and one in Vero. I will try one of the local shops again first. I have a ton of bags for other machines here, but they are missing! As for the people you have to deal with, that's their problem, you are a nice guy and know you are. Orlando is way to cosmopolitan for me anyhow. Back to the hand vacs-Lux1521, nice group of Royals you have.

 

[riccarlover]

Erick...

Those pictures of the hand vacs are wonderful!!!
We have the Signature Series 513 at church.
The Car Vac in black and yellow is EXTREMELY common around here.
Thanks for the pic post again!!!
Clayton